Peter and Paul Fortress and Peterhof

We had great weather the last two days so it has been perfect for sightseeing. Yesterday, we went on another 8 hour excursion starting at the Menshikov Palace, the house of St. Petersburg's first Governor. It was impressive and is one of St. Petersburg's oldest remaining buildings, which dates back to 1710s.

We went on to tour the Peter and Paul Cathedral and Fortress. The cathedral was quite ornate inside and is home to Peter the Great's crypt. The cathedral (tall yellow spire) is built within the Fortress which began construction in 1703, after the Russians defeated the Swedes and the Swedes retreated from the St. Petersburg area.

Today we took a hydrofoil water taxi out to Peterhof. Peterhof is a series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great, in the early 1700s. The gardens and the palace are often referred to as the "Russian Versailles" as there are almost 150 fountains on the grounds. It took us nearly 4 hours to wonder through the lower gardens alone. Despite the large crowds, Peterhof was definitely a highlight of Russia.

Tomorrow is Russian Independence Day. It doesn't seem like there will be too many celebrations taking place, on top of all the regular events for White Nights, but the city is very busy with Russian tourists. In fact, we estimate that 90% of the tourists are Russian, maybe 3% French, 3% German, and 4% from other countries.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be rainy so we plan to visit the Russian Vodka Museum and possibly Yusupov, the palace where Rasputin was killed (thanks for the tip Cynthia!).

We have been cutting costs by buying dinner at the local market down the street. Tonight's dinner was some tasty chicken flavoured noodles, or so we think that is what we ate. We have included a photo so that you can see how difficult it is to interpret the language. Thank goodness for photos!

Tomorrow night is our last night in Russia, so we plan to do it up Russian-style. We are going out for a traditional Russian dinner, complete with caviar and vodka, before we head to the Russian ballet at the historic Mariinsky Theatre.

We leave Sunday night and fly back to Stockholm, before flying home on Monday morning. We would highly recommend Russia to anyone. It is well worth the hassle of applying for the Visa and the stress of the border crossing. There is so much history and beautiful architecture, you could easily spend two weeks in St. Petersburg alone.